Safety collapsible combination stepladder and stool



' FebL 9 192s.l

T. w. HALL SAFETY coLLAPsIBLE COMBINATION STEP LADDER AND sTooL im Hall.

Patented Feb. 9, 1926.

f UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS WILLIAM HALL, OE LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA, AssIGNoH OE ONE-HALE rro f CHARLES HNU'rsoN, OE LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA.

vSAFETY COLLAISIELE COMBINATION srErLAEIJEE AND s'rOOL.

Application filed December 11, 1922. y Serial No. 696,198.

To 'all whom' it, may concern Be 1t known that I, THOMAS VILLIAM HALL, a citizen of the United States, resid` lapsed; and in which the top is intended to `be used as a support for the feet Ofthose wishing to reach higher than the steps of the ladder. I al An' object'of the invention is to provide such adevce with a broad seat and at the same time make provision for maximum security against tilting or collapsing, and to provide for collapsing the ladder to minimum space both in thickness and'in length.`

An object of the inventiony is to so constructthe stool that it can be handled with 'easean'd convenience by one hand for col! lapsing vand setting up the ladder and for y,moving itfrom place to place'in its spread step l ladder: forni.

' `ln this invention the top of the step lad-` der ,and stoolis formed ofa tread and seat 'piece fixed to the top ofthe ladde'rframe anda tread piece hingedy at its rear edge toV the front edge ofthe fixed tread piece, and

' hinged to the rear side of the top of the prop that supportslthe ladder aslant` when fthe ladder is set up; and a brace pivoted to f the ladder near the underside of the fixedtopv tread and seat' piece and pivoted to the prop alt suoli distance rfrom the hinged tread piece, that when the ladder is set up it firmn ly stands. f

Other objects, advantages and features of invention may appear from the accompanyving drawing, the subjoined` detailed description and the appended claim. I' y The accompanying drawing illustrates the invention.` j,

F igurel is ay side view of the appliance constructed in accordance withV this invention; showing it erectedfor use either as a vstep ladder or stool. Y

Fig. 2 is a front view of the appliance. Fig. 3 is a side View of the appliance in collapsed standing position ready yto be transported or stored away; or as it would l appear when lifted from the floor.

Fig. 4L is an enlarged fragmental section on line m4, Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a section on line m5, Fig. l', looking upward at the top of the step ladder stool. Y

Fig. 6 is an'edgeelevation of one of vthe bearing stud bars.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged the hinge for connecting a prop to the stool seat plate. l

The appliance comprises a seat piece or top tread l that is formed of a fixed or front tread and seat piece 2 and a hinged or back tread piece 3 which is hinged at its rear edge to the front edge of the fixed treadpiece b the hinges 4.

A pair of step ladder legs 5 are rigidly ysecured topiece 2 by the angle plates 6 and` screws 7; and these legs are arranged to inohne forwardly, outwardly and from under i the plate 2 when it is held in a horizontal plane. That is, when the fixed seat piece 2 is heldin a horizontal plane the step ladder legs incline forwardly from the top down at about an angle of twenty-two degrees, and sidewiseabout nine degrees.

A pair of rear legs 8 are pivotallyconnected to the underside of the hinged tread piece 3 by means of the bars 9 secured by screws 10 lto the upper ends of'said rear legsy 8, and bars' 9 have theextending bearing studs l1 that extend outwardly from the rear corner of the rear legs and are pivotally secured to the underside of piece 3 by the straps 12 and screws 13.' The rear legs 8 are pivoted to the hinged tread piece 3 so that the tops of the rear legs engage the underside of said `piece 3 and thus relieve the pivots or studs 11 of strain during use of the stool and the pivots are placed at the rear Lipper Corner of the rear legs so that when the stool is collapsed the sides of the fragmental view of rear legs ean swing to 'ard the underside ol the hinged tread piece 3.

The bars are seenred to 'the outside et the rear legs S and the rear legs are spaced apart by the round cross bars lfl so that. when the bearing sinds lil are in the straps l2 the rear legsl ti' are piroted to but are not detachable from the hinged tread piene 3.

'lhe ends ol the rear legs S are ent aslant so that when the ladder stool is in erected position theyY incline rearwardly7 ontwardlr i and from under the pieee l. ',lhat is, lwhen the appliance is ereeted lor use and the piece I-l held in a horizontal plane, the rear legs inel'ine rearwardlyY Afrom the top downward at an angle of' about eleven degrees7 and side wise nine degrees.

At eaeh eide et the step ladder stool are arranged the piroted braces l5 which have their upper ends piif'otall)v Connected by rirets 16 to the upper ends o'lAI the respective legs and angle plates l5, and the other ends oililhese cross braces are extended downward toward the mid seetion el'l the respeel ive rear legs 8 and are pivotalljyY eonneeted thereto by the rivets 1li', and these lnaees prevent forward or rearward movement o'l" the rear legs S` when the step ladder stool is in ereeted position, bnl' perinit the rear .legs to swing toward the step ladderilegs when the ap plianee lifted. i

'.lhere are two steps ,itl seeured between the legs Legs o are recessed at lll to reeeire the` ends oit the steps whieh are seenred lherein by the nails 20.

Also another means is provided tor holding the ends e'l' the steps seenrelpY in the recesses l2) which consists et iron rods El that are extended under the steps and through the `legs o and washers that are on the onts'ide o'fthe legs, and the rods are seeured in place by rivet-ing. That is, the ends 28 ol the rod `are expanded by hannnering to extend them over and hold the waslier seenrely to the sides oit the legs.

Also adiaeent the top and between the ends of le 5 is sernred a eross ronnd @l that aids in making a rigid eross tinineetion between the step ladder legs.

The steps 1S preferably are inneh wider than `the legs 5 with the additional width extended 'lorrini'd beyond the legs, and the top snrlaee et the steps are prorided with the noiseless treads i5 that can be termed ol' rubber or any other lleiizible material, and these treads can be seenred to the steps by any well linown means as adhesive paste or by racking.

Also if desired both the 'iront and rear legs ean hare noiseless resilient pads 2b on their lower ends so that the step ladder stool ean be `placed on a highlyY polished lloor, or on a carpet or reg without :nari-ing them as pri'n'ionsly stated. 'l-l'owevin, it is under stood that the stool an be made either with or without the pads Elli, as there are uses for the step ladder stool in which these pads will not be necessary.

'llhinseat or top tread l is provided with the enshionz secured to they lixed tread pieee 2 and eushion 2S seenred to hinged tread piene 3. These enshions compriseI resilient packing material Eil), 3() over which are arranged the leather sheets 3l, 32 that here their edges turned down over the edges et the plates 2, P and seonred thereto b y the tape bands 32:3 and lacks 3l, and the edges et the leather sheets covering the abutting edges olf the plates 2, 3 eau be secured in plare by an adhesive sneh as glue.

The step ladder stool is erected by simply pirotally moving the rear legs rearwardly trein the ladder legs nntil they are extended to l'nll open position, in wliieh the bottom end surfaces elv the ladder legs and the rear legs are in the saine plane as the top, and

eontaeting ol the bottom ends of the rear legs with a level surface holds the `step ladder stool in ereeted position.`

,lhe step ladder stool is collapsed into the position shown in Fig, l by placing a hand ander the. edge a. and `liit'ting `the applianee, and due lo the l'aet that the seat l formed olf two hinged sections it will be apparent that in collapsed position the rear seetien i will compensate for the difference in length between the :front and rear legs tlins permitting the ladder lo stand ereet as shown in Figure 3. i

lt is thus seen that this newlynvented einnbined ladder and stool comprises the ladder member comprising the legs 5 having a. rigidlyv lixed top member 2; a lemmember comprising the rear legs 8 andhavmg a top member il hinged thereto and also hinged to.`

the top .member 2 ol the ladder; and stay brace means formed of the memberslpivoted at the upper portion to the upper por tion ot the ladder member and piroted at its lower portion to a relatively lower portion el the leg nien1ber;said stay brace means being aalant and eonneeting the ladder meinbe and the leg member and preventing 'further spread ol said members from each elher when the top members are in practical parallelism with thebemlled bottoms er 'leet ol' the laddermember andthe leg member.

Alt is nnderstood that the inrention isnot limited to the exact speeilie features minute ly described herein and I may malte sueh ebanges as are within the skill of a mechanic without departing from the main spiritot the in\i'ention.

il combined stool and stepladder construelionj eomprisinga toptread fornied of 'front and rear seetions hinged together, supporting legs rigidly seeured at their upper ends to one el the sections oit said top ti'ead,`t1'eafls sernred between the supporting legs intermediate their upper and lower ends,- a pair of rear legs pivotally secured at their upper ends to the other section of said top tread for supporting the combined stool. and ladder in an Voperative position, and braces piv- .otally connecting the supporting legs and rear legs', the construction and arrangement being sueh that the rear legs and rear tread THOMAS VILLIAM HALL. 

